Edge of a Coin
by bubbajack
Summary: "Good and Bad? Light and Dark? I call bantha crap! You can kill someone just as easily with a hurtled rock as you can with lightning!" That is what I told the Jedi Council when they accused me of being a "fallen Jedi" but their opinion doesn't really matter to me. I never really wanted to be a Jedi anyway... BBxHarem begins before the Clone Wars and continues on! Could go up to M!
1. Chapter 1

**Edge of a Coin**

**Written by Bubbajack**

**Beta: Diller**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Star Wars, DC, or Marvel characters that may show up in this fic, I just own the plot.**

**Arc 1: New Perspectives **

**Ch.1: Welcome to the Galaxy Garfield Logan.**

* * *

Pain and darkness that was all he knew. His name, the reason he was in the dark, even the reason for the pain escaped him now. All there was, all there seemed to ever be, was pain. It ripped and tore at him, never ceasing, never ending, and never letting him sleep or die. Then out of nowhere there came a voice, calm and soothing. It said **"Do not worry Garfield Mark Logan; we are with you as we have always been. The Force, the Force is always with you..."**

Next thing he knew there was a very bright light...

* * *

**26 BBY, Four years before the start of the Clone Wars; Location: Unknown planet in the Outer Rim. **

_ 'I wonder why the Force has drawn me here. Whatever could it require of me?' _thought Jedi Master Titania Fey, a seemingly beautiful twenty year old near-human woman with blonde hair, grey eyes, a lithe elf-like figure that was further enforced by her pointed ears usually only seen on Sephi.

The Jedi Master made her way through the dense underbrush on this unknown planet; she made her way into a clearing. Shortly after she arrived a midnight black swirling portal opened up, and deposited a screaming, green skinned, young man that was heavily bleeding from his amputated limbs, as well as his exposed chest cavity exposing his still beating heart and lungs to the open air.

Fay took all of this in as she rushed to the boy's side and immediately began drawing upon her immense connection with the force to heal the boy's numerous wounds. The moment she laid her hands on him to begin the healing process, she felt it, a connection to the force so strong, it made her's seem like a younglings' by comparison.

_'Who is this child?'_ she thought as she redoubled her efforts to save him managing to seal his chest wound, and close the bleeding on the stumps where his arms and legs used to be.

Taking a canteen from her sash, Fay used some of the water to wash the blood and sweat off the boy's face and out of his hair. With all the grime removed she found he had a rather cute face that was still slightly covered in baby fat, with a fang that stuck out slightly from his lower lip.

_'He's adorable. Who would do such a terrible thing to him though?'_ Fay thought to herself, before she blinked realizing what she had just thought beforehand and shook her head.

_'How strange, I do not even know this child's name and yet, I already feel protective of him. Is this the will of the Force? Or is it simply my own want to have what is forbidden? A child and family of my own... Stop it Fay! You're a Jedi master, the Order forbids forming attachments for a reason; you know this...All your feeling is a paternal instinct to protect.'_ She scolded herself even as she absentmindedly stroked his grass green hair.

* * *

Garfield slowly opened his eyes, only for his breath to catch as he awoke to find what could only be an angel sat beside him stroking his hair as she stared off into space seemingly lost in thought. Garfield tried to mover his arm to get her attention, only to realize his arm wouldn't respond he glanced over to see his right arm missing just above the elbow. He just stared at the place where his missing appendage should be in horror for a moment unable to comprehend what he was seeing...when he did, he started screaming.

Being pulled out of her near meditative thought by a scream; Master Fay looked over to see the young boy was awake and had become aware of his lost limbs. Acting on instinct, she pulled him into an embrace and held him there while doing her best to calm him as he cried, even as the ground shook beneath her from his fear and anguish. After about five minutes, the ground quit trembling as the boy finally managed to calm himself down. After a few moments of silence, she felt him push against her and he held him at arm's length and looked directly into his emerald green eyes, which were currently full of confusion and worry as he asked "Dude, what the hell happened to me? And who are you?" He added as an afterthought.

She gave the young boy her sweetest most comforting smile and said "I am Jedi Master Titania Fay; I was drawn to this planet by the Force, where you were mysteriously dumped into this clearing by a black portal. After using the Force to seal up your wounds as best I could, I waited for you to wake up."

At the mention of a black portal it all came rushing back to him. Her jealously, then anger, the crimson tears and heartbreak, the loss of control, infinite amounts of pain...

"Little one, is everything alright? I sense much sadness in you right now." Master Fay asked concerned.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine; don't worry about it. Could you put me down on the ground for a minute?" he asked distractedly.

After the Jedi Master complied with his request she was rendered speechless as he, with a mere thought regenerated his limbs using the Force. He then stood up and, dusting himself off he offered her his hand and smiled kindly saying "I didn't properly introduce myself did I? My names-"He paused for a brief moment before saying my names Garfield Logan, it's nice to meet you."

Fay smiled sweetly and took his hand gave it a light shake. The two stood and studied each other for a moment, until Garfield decided to speak "Umm not to sound needy or anything, but you wouldn't happen to have any spare clothes I could wear do you? It's kinda chilly out here." He commented while he rubbed his hands on his arms to stimulate warmth.

Fay nodded "Follow me to my ship youngling and we'll see what we can do about getting you some proper attire." She said before heading back to her ship.

Garfield smiled happily saying "Sweet!" Before becoming confused and asking "Youngling?"

Fay merely chuckled at her own blunder "I apologize for that. It is a term used to describe a child. My Order uses to describe someone who is young and has a connection with the Force and is undergoing training but has yet to train under a master." She explained.

Garfield nodded in acceptance. "You mentioned this order, Jedi wasn't it? Before and you said you that you were a Master. You also mentioned this Force a couple of times. What is the Force?"

Fay was silent for a moment, contemplating how to answer such a question, after several minutes she believed she had an answer that could satisfy the green child, and so she said "The force is the embodiment of life. As life exists so too does the force. It exists in all of us, and to those of us that are strong enough; we may reach out and affect the world through the force."

"Woah, heavy philosophy, dude." Garfield said in an awed tone.

"Indeed. What does that word of yours 'dude' mean?" she inquired.

"It's like a universal pronoun on my planet; you can call anyone dude, well almost anyone, and it'll be accepted as normal." He explained.

"Ah, I see." Seeing him struggle slightly over the terrain she lifted him up with the force and placed him next to her before saying "It's not much further now Youngling, keep going just a little further."

Garfield nodded gratefully "Thanks but you don't need to worry about me too much, I can pull my own weight." The changeling said puffing out his chest causing the Jedi Master to giggle at his 'manly' display.

"Indeed, I sense much maturity in you for one so young, though you choose not to display it, which is your choice. We all must choose when and if to grow up." Fay commented sagely.

This caused Garfield to look at her in shock for a moment before he smiled at her kindly saying "Thanks, all my old friends were constantly telling me to act more mature and grow up, but the thing is, I'm not ready to grow up yet."

Fey nodded "One does not rush growth, which could lead to things one is not ready for. Every tree, every animal, every lifeform develops at its own given pace. Do you force a tree to grow quicker than it is supposed to? No, you don't. You simply nurture it and wait."

"Wow, where did you hear that?" Garfield asked as they finally made their way to her ship, which was vaguely in the shape of a stingray to Garfield.

Leading him up the hatch she answered "The force reveals many things, even dreams can lend one great insight. Here, you can wear these until we can get you some proper clothing of your own." She said reaching into a locker and handing him a tan robe and brow over coat as well as a pair of slightly worn if sturdy looking leather boots.

"Thanks Master Fay." He said giving her a nod and a smile.

The Jedi Master returned the nod saying "Your welcome Garfield, I'll leave you here to change while I prep the ship for takeoff alright?" she said while making her way towards the door.

"Sure, thanks again!" he called.

As Titania made her way down the hall a thought occurred to her, one that made her turn back around and walk back into her quarters unannounced... and walked in on Garfield just as he was about to pull on the robe she gave him. She noticed he was thin yet well-toned for his age, and when he turned around at her sudden intrusion she got a good look of his fit green washboard abs. Titania Fay couldn't help but stare, until Garfield asked "Umm did you forget something?"

She shook herself out of her trance and, after taking a minute to compose herself, she said "You don't need to address me so formally you know? It's not like you're my padawan or anything. So please feel free to just call me Fay, or Titania if you like." She said while not making eye contact with him as she didn't want him to see her blushing.

"Oh, alright then, thanks for the heads up Fay." She could hear the smile in his tone which made her smile unconsciously.

When she realized what she was doing, she thought. _'I need to stop this! I need to get away from him for a bit and meditate, let the force guide me on these feelings.'_

Hearing a final rustle of clothing, she turned around to see him fully clothed in the items she gave him. He looked every bit a Jedi Knight just then, standing there in old leather boots a tan robe with a matching colored sash keeping it closed, and to top it all off the dark brown cloak. Garfield looked at his appearance as best he could till he just decided to ask "How do I look?"

"You look dashing Garfield. You look every bit the handsome Jedi knight, you'd best be careful or the young girls will swarm all over you." Fay told him; ignoring the odd pang she felt when she did so.

Garfield rolled his eyes "Yeah, right; I dunno if you noticed Fay but I'm green! What kind of girl would fall for me?" he asked self-loathingly.

Sensing his pain, Fey stepped closer to the young man and putting her hands on his shoulders said "Nonsense Garfield. In the Republic, having green skin is no different than having pale or orange or blue skin as there are many different species of that are a part of the republic. You'll fit right in." she assured him.

"Really?" He asked hopefully.

Fay nodded "You never know, the right one for you could be right in front of you, just stay optimistic alright?"

Garfield grinned and nodded "By the way, where are we going?"

"I'm not really sure, the Force has yet to lead me to my next destination." The blonde Jedi master replied.

Garfield rose an eyebrow before he asked "Then why are we taking off if you don't know where you're going next?"

She had to admit, the youngling had a point. Crossing her arms over her chest she smiled and decided to humor his as she asked "Where do you think we should go? I have about a weeks' worth of food if we split it between the two of us, and the nearest planet I know of is ten days away even with a hyper drive. So, where do you propose we go?"

The Jedi Master felt, for a brief moment a swell of negativity come from the young man before her, but it was swiftly covered up by a wall of bliss as he said "Don't worry about that, I can easily go a week and a half without food. I've had...plenty of practice in that department." He whispered the last part to himself.

Unbeknownst to the changeling Titania heard what he said, but it was obvious he didn't want to talk about it, so she let sleeping Rancor's lie. Instead, she merely nodded and said "In that case, if you're sure you can go without a meal for so long then I'll prep the hyper drive."

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me." The boy responded before he asked "What's the closest planet called anyway?"

"Mandelore, it's called Mandelore." She responded.

The Green teens' eyes lit up in excitement "What's it like?" he asked.

"Well from what I've heard it has jungles, forests, oceans, deserts, and is inhabited by all different manner of alien species.

_'Ah, so it's like Earth then except even more diverse.'_ Garfield thought. Aloud he said "Sounds cool, let's get going then shall we?" he said while offering her his arm.

Fay smiled at the offer and accepted thinking now would be a good time to give him a tour of the ship. As they walked she explained what various areas of the ship were and what they were used for, and even designated a spare room of his own that he could use room until they got to the cockpit where he took his seat in the co-pilots chair.

After a moment of silence in which she prepared the ship for takeoff he asked "So this ship is nice, what kind of ship is it anyway? Assuming there are different kinds of course."

Fay nodded silently as she finished the takeoff sequence, once the two were in space however she answered him "Yes indeed there are many variants of spaceships this ship in particular is a modified cloakshape starfighter used by the Jedi Order called a Whitecloak."

She glanced at Garfield to see a curious look upon his face. "You have another question?" she asked.

Garfield smiled slightly "Well since you asked, does this ship have a name? Where I come from, it's common to give ships names."

Titania shook her head in response before saying "No, it doesn't. Why, do you have a name in mind?"

Garfield scratched his cheek nervously "Well back home on my planet they had this play, and in it there was a group of magical creatures called the Fae which were ruled by a king and a queen. The Queens name was Titania. She was said to be the most beautiful woman in all of existence-"Gar paused, upon realizing what he'd just said, and looked at the floor, unable to meet her eyes.

_'Wait to say something stupid and embarrassing Gar! She probably thinks your weird now!'_ he thought to himself fearfully glancing over to find her merely staring at him curiously, as if waiting for him to continue.

"And what was the King called?" She asked after another moment of silence.

"Oberon, the king was called Oberon. So what do you think? Would Oberon be a cool name for a ship?" he asked.

Her response was to smile warmly at him and say "I think it's perfect."

"Really?" he asked surprised.

She nodded "Why yes, why do you ask?"

Garfield shrugged before his good mood seemingly deflated "Well, it's just that, back home people I considered my friends usually considered my ideas crazy or stupid and they mocked me more often than not."

Patting him on the arm reassuringly she said "Well it seems to me that your friends either didn't understand you, or they were never really your friends to begin with."

Garfield sighed "Ya know what you're probably right. So, care to tell me more about that Force thing you were talking about earlier? It sounded pretty interesting."

"Just a moment." she said before she typed a set of coordinates into the ship computer before activating the hyper drive, and sending the ship rocketing into space. That done she turned to the young man and asked "What do you want to know?"

"Well you said you healed my wounds using the force and that it somehow guided you to me. So is this force sentient and can anyone learn how to use it?"

Fay took a moment to answer when she did; Garfield could tell she was very careful about what she said, as each word was carefully thought over before it was pronounced. She told him that "The force is sentient to a point, yes and like I said before the force exists in all living things on all worlds so in a sense it is omnipotent, it is what many beings would refer to as gods or deities from various forms of religion. Do you understand?"

Garfield blinked as if in a daze for a moment before asking "So everything I've been taught since I was a little kid was wrong? There really is no ultimate good or evil force in the universe?"

"That's not exactly true; the force is...how do I put this? The force is the driving force behind all of creation, both good and evil creatures alike. It is up to the individual to decide whether they are good or evil. The force itself is neither and both as it can be used for great good or great evil depending on the will of the individual. And if you let it, it will guide you down the proper path in life, ignore it and give in to your passion, anger, and fear you will fall to darkness however. This is why the Jedi Order teaches all padawan to suppress their emotions as they lead to what is known as the Darkside of the Force. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Garfield scratched his head, trying to make sense of it all "I think so; too much of a good thing is bad basically right?"

Indeed, now as for training you-"She was cut off by the young man saying "But that doesn't make any sense."

The Jedi Master gave him a confused look before she said "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean."

The Changeling sighed looking downcast before he elaborated "I had this friend once, and she, was an extremely powerful telekinetic and empath. Ya know someone who can move things with their mind and feel other people's emotions?"

Seeing the older woman nod he continued "Well, her powers were tied directly to her emotions the more she felt, the more things got destroyed. She had to constantly emotionally repress herself so as not to be a danger to others, she meditated constantly, but when her control finally slipped something terrible happened."

"What?" Fay asked almost afraid of the answer.

"I ended up a quadriplegic in the middle of nowhere on a backwater planet." He deadpanned, referencing his original condition when they first met.

"Oh, oh I see. But does that mean that you shall surrender yourself to your emotions?"

"Pff, hell no, that's no better than feeling nothing at all." The Changeling scoffed.

_'Ok, well he is certainly no up and coming Sith Lord, but if he refuses to repress his emotions and refuses to give into them, then what shall he do?'_ The Jedi Master thought to herself before asking him as much.

Garfield pondered his answer for a long time when he finally spoke, what he said was so obvious it couldn't have been anything other than genius "Well, since I know from experience that feeling nothing is bad and that also letting your emotions control your actions is also bad." He said while thinking of Raven and his Beast form respectively for a moment before he continued "Then I guess I'd choose to seek balance between the two states."

"Balance?" she asked hoping he would elaborate.

Her new shipmate nodded before doing just that "Yep balance, like walking on a tightrope I suppose. I would neither suppress my emotions but nor would I allow myself to give into them. That way I could feel passion, love, and even hate, but as long as I kept myself in balance, and don't let the emotions I allow myself to feel consume me, I think I should be ok. Everything in moderation ya know?"

She had a feeling that the young man in front of her may well just be onto something new and extraordinary. But she decided to test his convictions and see how he would answer an age old question.

Smiling slightly she asked "Tell me Garfield, which one of these codes sounds more correct to you? There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. Or-"

Fay paused as if trying to remember the other option before she recited "Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me."

The green teenager blinked for a moment or two before he said "In all honesty, I don't like either one of those codes as each one promotes either feeling nothing or feeling everything each to the upmost extreme, and like I've been saying if I had to choose, I would choose to balance myself."

Fay nodded accepting his answer before she asked "Then if you did in fact walk down this path of balance what would your code be?"

Gar 'hummed' for a good long minute before he said "Through Passion, I gain Peace. Through Knowledge I gain Strength. Through Serenity I gain Power. Through the Force I gain Victory over Death. The Force shall free me."

It was simple yet oh so eloquent. It combined both the teachings of the Jedi and the Sith codes perfectly into a single cohesive and easily understandable doctrine, and in doing so had the potential to 'bridge the gap' that had existed between both sides of force users since time immemorial.

_'This child, no this young man, has in a matter of mere hours after meeting me, inadvertently created a way for both Jedi and Sith ideals to peacefully coexist and without even really trying! If he can solve an age old philosophy issue in a matter of moments, what else is he capable of?' _she thought in wonder while keeping her face neutral.

* * *

Over the next ten days the Jedi Master began training the young changeling in the use of the force. She was completely and utterly shocked at the rate at which he progressed. Apparently due to constantly being around an empath, as well as being raised by a telepath, he had learned how to empty his mind as well as hide his emotions from an early age. As such, within a matter of six days he had almost mastered the basics of the second of the three pillars' of the force being that of Sense. However, some abilities still eluded him the reason being that he simply wasn't the type to sit still and meditate for very long. The first pillar, which was of Control, seemed to be innate to him as he demonstrated his body naturally seemed to heal from even the most severe of wounds reversing itself back to a non-injured state with merely a thought. She had decided to hold off teaching him most of the third pillar that of Alter. As most of those skills, if used improperly inside a spaceship could have disastrous results.

_'What is he; no one in the twenty-five thousand years of the order has progress this quickly! He's mastered abilities in a matter of days that has taken me centuries to learn! I need to test his midi chlorian count as soon as possible.'_ She vowed as she watched him effortlessly levitate several ball bearings in an aerial display around him forming a double helix as they rotated around his body.

"Hey Fay?" He asked getting the Jedi master's attention.

"Yes Garfield, what is it?" she asked distractedly.

"You told me that Jedi use those lightsaber things right? Well when can I start training on how to use one?" he asked eagerly with stars in his eyes.

The Jedi Master chuckled to herself at her padawans' enthusiasm before she admonished "You'll learn how to use a lightsaber in due time Garfield. For the time being however, just focus on strengthening your connection to the force."

He frowned slightly but nodded. He was silent for a good twenty minutes before he said "Fay?"

"Hmm?" she said letting him know he had her attention.

"You once told me that force users sometimes are given visions of the future through dreams right?" he asked nervously.

"Have you seen something Garfield?" she asked concernedly.

_'Ah crap, now she's worried over nothing probably.'_ He thought to himself. Not wanting her to be concerned over nothing he brushed it off saying "Look, it was just a bad dream nothing to worry about ok?" Seeing that she wasn't convinced he added "If it happens again I'll tell you all about it alright?"

Upon hearing this, the Jedi Master nodded albeit hesitantly.

_'I have a bad feeling about this...'_ she thought to herself.

* * *

_'This place reminds me of New York City.'_ Garfield thought as he and his master docked _The Oberon_ at the docking bay on Sundari the capital city of those calling themselves New Mandalorians, which reminded the changeling of that one comedy 'Bio Dome' as the entire city was covered by a black dome. From what Fay had told him, it was there to regulate the climate within and help the city survive in the white hot desert they called home. Sundari was a city covered in concrete, glass skyscrapers, and a constant flow of traffic. Though to be fair, most of the traffic was up in the air as all the vehicles' was flying in midair.

_'Still, that can't be good for the environment.'_ He thought.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the voice of a woman saying "Welcome to Sundari Master Jedi."

He looked over and saw a woman almost six foot, with blonde hair, in a navy blue dress and accompanying headdress which he secretly found slightly ridicules' striding towards them with a kind smile plastered on her face.

_'Ok, not the weirdest outfit I've ever seen but its' up there.'_ He thought to himself as the woman and his master exchanged pleasantries.

"And this is my padawan Garfield. Garfield this is the leader of the New Mandalorians Duchess Satine Kryze."

Giving the woman his best smile he said "Hello ma'am how do you do?" before giving her a kiss on the back of her outstretched hand which she probably intended for him to shake.

"Oh my, what a gentleman you have here Master Fay." Kryze responded as she took her hand back.

"He didn't learn that from me Duchess." Fay responded ruefully.

Garfield just shrugged "Well what can I say? The ladies love me."

This caused the two older women to chuckle at his antics before Satine led the two Jedi towards their transport a rather fancy looking hovercraft that was likely Satine's personal transport. Once the three were seated in the posh interior the Duchess asked "So, what brings you and your padawan to Mandelore Master Fay?"

"Our ship was in dire need of resupply and Mandelore was the closest planet I could think of." The Jedi Master replied.

The duchess nodded in response before turning to the changeling and asking "How long have you been apprenticed under Master Fay Padawan Logan?"

"About ten days after she rescued me off an unknown planet in what she called the Outer Rim." He replied staring out the window all the while.

Satine blinked in surprise before asking "You mean you weren't trained at the temple on Coruscant?"

Garfield shook his head in response still looking out the window as he responded "Nope, never even been there. In fact, never even knew there was such a thing as a Galactic Republic till ten days ago. On the planet I grew up on, we consider getting to our moon and back without anyone dying horribly in the process quite an achievement."

"Oh, I apologize." She said feeling awkward.

For the first time since sitting down in the hovercraft Garfield locked eyes with the Duchess as he said "What for, it's not like you caused anyone's death or caused me to end up here did you?"

"Well, no I suppose not." Satine responded.

"Word of advice, don't apologize for shit you didn't do. It doesn't do anyone any good and all it really does it make the person your apologizing to think your pitying them, and some people may get pissed at that." He told the New Mandalorians' leader.

Satines' eyes widened in shock before she began to apologize again; only for the changeling to raise his hand and silencing her and pointing out "You're doing it again, right now."

Satine opened her mouth to argue before closing it and merely nodding in response to which Garfield smiled slightly his fang protruding from his lower lip before he went back to staring out the window. After a few minutes of silence Satine dared ask "What is it that you find so fascinating out there Padawan Logan?"

"All the vehicles." He said pausing for a moment "They're all flying. It's not like back home. Back home all the transportation drove on the ground. I mean we had some flying things planes and shit, but nothing like this...I feel like a stranger in a strange land or a fish thrown out of water and left to cope."

It was then that both women realized the young man before them was suffering from culture shock. It was one thing to have things explained to him, it was quite another for him to see it firsthand.

_'Oh, great job handling your apprentice Fay.'_ The Jedi master berated herself before she slid on over next to him and place a hand on his shoulder before asking "Are you going to be ok Garfield?"

Slowly hesitantly he nodded "Yeah; I should be ok, but whenever we get to where we're going, I seriously need to get ahold of the most recent copy of a history book and start reading."

"Oh in the Galactic Republic we have something much better than books Garfield." Satine said smiling happily.

"Like what?" he asked.

"You'll see soon enough." She replied mysteriously as the transport stopped in front of an elaborate mansion, obviously the duchess' residence. Satine led the two inside and after going down several hallways which were furnished with everything from paintings, to rugs made out of various materials that Garfield had never seen before they finally came to a stop at an elaborate set of doors where Satine turned around and faced the Jedi, more specifically Garfield smiling at him as she said "Welcome Garfield to my library, here you can learn all about the galactic republic and numerous other things as the entire building has access to the holonet." She told him while leading the way into a room filled with...

_ 'Cd's?'_ Garfield thought to himself.

"Umm Satine, not that I don't enjoy good music or a game every now and again, but how are these disks gonna help me learn anything?" he asked.

"These aren't computer disks Garfield these are holodisks. They record a holographic projection of a person who's talking about a particular subject. As I'm a political leader these holodisks hold information on everything from people and places in the galactic republic along with their customs and homeworlds, as well as the political climate of ages past; as if one cannot learn from history one is doomed to repeat it." Satine said sagely.

"Umm cool, ok then. Where do I start?" he asked still very much confused.

Fay stepped forward sensing her disciples' unease. Putting a hand on his shoulder reassuringly she said "I would suggest you start with an abbreviated history of the republic and then, learn more about each individual planet and its people as you go." She suggested.

The green-skinned padawan nodded uncertainty still in his eyes though lessened.

"Better let me get started then." He said as he sighed rolling up the sleeves of his robes as he did so.

The two older women then left him to further his knowledge of the galaxy but not before Satine informed him that if he required anything to use the intercom and call for service. That done the Jedi Master and the Duchess left the changeling to his task.

* * *

The two women walked silently after leaving young Garfield to his studies after a moments silence Satine asked "Has he really only been your apprentice for a week?"

To which the almost elf-like Jedi responded with a nod "Not only that, but when I found him he was in horrible shape, his limbs Satine, they had been torn off him! His chest cavity too was exposed I could see his heart and his lungs I managed to heal all his injuries with the force, but...by the force who would do something like that to him?!" she questioned.

Seeing her friend in duress Satine patted her back and said "It'll be alright Fay, he's fine now. Though I must say, you did a remarkable job healing him legs arms chest cavity and all." She said approvingly.

The Jedi master shook her head at this saying "I didn't heal his legs or arms; I merely healed his chest wound and stopped the bleeding in his arms and legs. Garfield did the rest himself." Fay hesitated before she continued "He regenerated his arms and legs through innate use of the force Satine and, once I started teaching him, he learned almost everything a youngling needs to learn to become a padawan in a matter of ten days! The boy is a prodigy of untold skill in the Force and he doesn't even realize it."

Satine looked at her friend concerned. "You mean you haven't told him yet? That could be harmful towards you in the long run couldn't it? I mean he's supposed to be able to trust you completely, isn't he?" the Duchess questioned.

Now it was the Jedi master's turn to look worried "Do you think I should tell him Satine? The only reason I don't is because I don't want him becoming arrogant because of overconfidence and then dying because he thinks he's invincible."

Kryze nodded "I see your point, but if he finds out you knew and didn't tell him..." she trailed off.

"He likely won't trust me again after, that I know." Titania responded as she slumped against the wall in defeat.

Satine merely looked sadly at her friend saying "Sometimes we hurt the ones we love."

Slowly, the three century old Jedi nodded "Yes, yes indeed."

* * *

A green Peregrine Falcon winged its way away from the duchess's palace, making a bee-line for what could only be described as the seedier parts of the city. As he flew Garfield couldn't help but think about what he'd accidently heard his master and the duchess discuss.

_'So I'm some kinda force prodigy huh, and somehow this is related to my ability to shapeshift. Urgh! Why does everything have to be so damn confusing?! Why can't it just be simple for once?'_ he asked himself as he landed in an alleyway and shifted back to his normal form before pulling his barrowed cloak over his head and making his way down the main street.

_'Not much to see though.'_ He mused to himself.

It was true, refuse was scattered all along the ground as well as what looked to be various scrapped vehicles' that he was currently unfamiliar with but they vaguely reminded him of motorcycles except without wheels. As he made his way down the street his sensitive nose was assaulted by smells of the unpleasant variety that is until he picked up an odd scent that stirred up a feeling familiarity in him, making him stop in his tracks for a moment.

_'What the, who the hell could I recognize on a planet I've never been to before? Well, I guess there is only one way to find out.'_ He thought with a shrug as he began to follow the scent with his nose.

The trail led him to what could only be described as a seedy bar on the wrong side of town. It was worn looking with several broken windows, shards of glass, as well as busted barstools lay strewn across the road from the entrance, and Garfield could hear shouting even from where he stood. He took note of both the graffiti plastered on the walls and he could also see some kind of shady looking deals going down right out in the open as he approached the rundown establishment; searching for the source of the smell, but he paid it no mind. This wasn't Jump City and he wasn't a superhero anymore.

The moment he entered the room everything stopped. _'It's like in one of those western movies when the hero enters the bar and everyone freezes till he sits down.'_ Gar thought as he took a seat at the bar and the bartender a dark-skinned, four-armed alien with a prominent crest jutting from his head grunted out as he used his lower set of arms to clean a glass "What'll it be stranger?"

"Well, I'm not really big on alcohol. So, bantha milk if you have it please." He asked politely becoming quite keen on the drink during his ten day trip to Mandelore.

The bartender gave him a surprised look before he smiled and said "Well, it's nice to finally see someone with manners walk into this place. Coming right up kid, ya need anything else just gimmie a holler, ok?"

"Yes of course sir, thank you." He said as he scanned the room for the scent.

_'It smells familiar similar to Starfire's but different...'_ suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks he knew whose scent it was.

But still he didn't rush over there. No, Garfield realized he needed more information still. So he scoped out the bar for her using the force to aid in his search. He found her soon enough in the far left-hand corner of the room on the ground power nullifying cuffs on his hands and some kind of visor on her eyes. She sat there along with several other women of various species he didn't know while some tough looking guys sat around a table drinking and playing cards. He turned back to the bartender and asked "What can you tell me about those guys over there?"

"Them, that's Hondo Ohnaka and his crew of space pirates, they usually run spice and ransom people for money back to their home planets you know small time stuff not big enough to get on anyone's radar. Why do you ask?"

Instead of answering Garfield said "Thanks, you've been a big help." As he made his way over to the pirates table addressing him as he got close "Mr. Hondo Ohnaka?"

The pirate looked up from his game a curious look in his eye, his face partially covered by grey dredlocks before he smirked and said "Well, I don't know about 'mister' boy but I'm him, what can I do for you?" he asked as the men around him tensed up.

Sensing the tension through the force Garfield said "First of all if you could tell your men to relax that would be appreciated, I'm not here to fight, just talk. I'm not even armed see?" he said holding his arms wide open to prove his point.

Hondo smirked before raising his voice and said "Easy boy's he may wear the trappings of a Jedi, but he has no lightsaber."

Though the space pirate couldn't see it the changeling quirked an eyebrow and asked "What makes you think I'm a Jedi Mr. Hondo?"

Hondo chuckled "Kid, only a Jedi would walk in ta a place like this dressed like a monk, acting completely calm, bearing no weapon, acting polite, and then have the guts to walk up to space pirates and start casual conversation. If you aren't a Jedi you are one crazy son of a bitch. So which is it?" he asked while counting off reasons on his fingers.

Garfield scratched his head sheepishly "Ok, I'm a Jedi you got me. But seriously I'm just here to talk." He said honestly.

"Then pull up a chair kid and let's talk business." The alien said waving his hand next to an empty chair which the changeling promptly took.

The still hooded padawan nodded that's true I actually came over here because I recognized one of your girls." He said motioning towards the one of the bound woman on the floor.

Now this caught the pirate's attention "You know her eh? So then by any chance would you know where she's from and how much we can ransom her for? She kept saying she was a princess of some place called Tamaran but me and my boys have never heard of it."

Garfield nodded "Well what she says is true she is a princess of Tamaran, but what she didn't tell you is that she's an exiled princess which means that, even if you did manage to find her home planet they wouldn't pay a thing for her."

At this, Ohnaka's men began to mutter darkly until the pirate captain himself raised a hand for silence. "Yes, yes I see, this is a most...unfortunate turn of events but that begs the question what's she worth to you?"

Garfield thought quickly he only had a handful of credits on him not nearly enough to buy the girls freedom. So he did the next best thing.

"She's worth a couple of games of cards and a bet." He said slyly.

He could tell Ohnaka was intrigued he could feel it through the force. This was why when the captain spoke next; he already knew what to say "What kind of bet boy?"

Garfield smiled from within the shadows of his hood 'perfect' he thought "A very simple bet Mr. Hondo best of ten games, just you and me, whoever wins serves the other faithfully until the end of his days."

Hondo's men were now in an uproar on was even prepared to gut him with some kind of humming knife until Hondo stopped him dead at the last second by saying "Deal boy."

"Umm Capin', 'cuse me for sayin' this but are you high on bantha shit fumes?!" the pirate wielding the humming knife asked.

Hondo gave the man a steely glare and said "No, I can assure you I am quite fine which is more than you will be if you don't put that vibroblade down and shut up." The pirate complied immediately sitting down with an audible 'thump'.

After the man sat down, Hondo turned back to the 'kid' and asked "You know how to play sabacc kid?"

The changeling Jedi shook his head in the negative "Nope what are the rules and how do you win?"

* * *

It turns out the game was a mixture of both blackjack and poker as one would get cards and the person with the highest count close to twenty-three by the time the round was over. The game had four phases: The betting phase where each player put money into a pot, the call phase where each player could call out another's hand, the shifting phase where the cards that were electronic could change their suit and value, and the draw phase where each player could either draw or discard a card.

It was almost like a normal game of blackjack except for the fact that at any given time, the 'face cards' were worth negative numbers and there were three ways to win: getting exactly either a positive or negative twenty-three, which was called 'pure Sabacc' or getting a card worth zero called the idiot idol and a two and three of the same suit and literally having '023' an automatic win called an Idiot's Array.

Garfield was surprisingly good at the game and much to his and Hondo's shock he won six out of ten times having never played before in his life. His last hand actually ended up being an Idiot's Array much to his and Hondo's shock.

"Wow that was lucky." Gar said completely shocked.

"Yeah no kidding..." Hondo said looking down at the cards in shock for a moment before he sighed and said "Well kid I'm a Weequay of my word, my ship, my men, and myself are at your disposal until either you die or I and all my men do. So, what's your first order captain?"

Garfield grinned under his hood as he thought _'Captain huh? I could get used to that.'_

"Ok First Mate Hondo, my first order is for you to take me to our ship I'd like to see what I have to work with."

Hondo grinned "Of course captain right this way." He said leading the way out of the bar, down several streets, and into a seemingly abandoned hangar. Inside the 'abandoned hangar' sat a giagantic flying sacucer.

_'Holy shit, it looks just like the one from Mars Attacks!'_ "What are the chances of that?" he said speaking the last part to himself.

"What was that boss?" Hondo asked.

"This, this is gonna be awesome." He told the former captain.

"Indeed sir, I'll give you the grand tour right after I have a chat with the men. In the meantime why don't you get reacquainted with your girl? Just hit the yellow button to talk to her first, then the green one to undo the restraints."

In all the excitement Garfield had forgotten about the main reason for the bet in the first place.

_'Oops'_ he thought as Hondo passed him the control to the girls restraints before he led the girl over to a corner that was seemingly out of earshot before he hit the yellow button and said "Blackfire can you hear me?"

The Tamaranean princess jumped at the sound of his voice before asking hoarsely "Who are you?"

Putting his hand on her arm comfortingly he responded "You probably don't remember me, but I'm one of your sister's friends, Beast Boy the green guy with the lame jokes, remember?"

She cocked her head to the side "The green guy...but if you're here then is my sister-"She began to ask embarrassed before he interrupted saying soothingly "No Star and the others aren't here, it's just me."

She was quiet for a moment before she asked "How did that happen?"

He sighed and said "It's a long story and we can talk about it some other time, but right now I need to know a few things ok?" to which the princess nodded.

"Great first things first, if I take these restraints off, are you gonna attack me?" he asked.

"Pff, look string bean I may be a lot of things but even I'm not that much of an ungrateful bitch. By X'hal if you take these damned restraints off, I'd be more than willing to..._make it up to you later_." She purred seductively.

Gar chuckled nervously "One thing at a time Blackfire, ok?" to which she smirked and said "Whatever you say hero. Now are you going to take these restraints off or not?" she asked while holding her bound hands out pleadingly.

"Sure hand on a sec." he said before hitting the green button and watching as the visor and the manacles fell to the floor with a clang.

"Feel better he asked?" As he watched the dark haired and equally dark hearted exiled princess rub her wrists to get feeling back in her hands.

"Much." She said before she grasped him by the shirt and smirked.

_'Ah shit now she's gonna-'_ Garfield didn't finish his as instead of hitting him and escaping like he thought she was going to do, instead she smashed her lips onto his wiping out all forms of cognitive thought from the changelings mind as he got caught up in the intensity of the kiss.

It was intense, wild, dominating, and demanding much like Blackfire's personality. The green human didn't know what hit him one moment he thought he was going to be struck and the next he knew the incredibly evil yet incredibly hot women's tongue was in his mouth. Not one to be controlled by anyone, Garfield took control of the kiss much to the woman's surprise and in short order he went from being dominated to the one doing the dominating. When the two finally broke for air Garfield noticed he wasn't the only one that was blushing making him feel pleased with himself.

"Where..." she gasped "Did you learn to do that?"

"Instinct." He responded equally out of breath "Animal DNA you know?"

In response to this the princess licked her lips hungrily and said "Nice."

Before she could no doubt pounce on him like she was planning to they were interrupted by an "Ahem."

The two looked over to see Hondo standing there smirking "I'm not interrupting anything...important am I, boss?"

"You!" Blackfire spat venomously before something he said clicked and she turned to the changeling and asked "Boss?"

Garfield became sheepish once again as he said "Yeah, I kinda won the loyalty of the entire crew until death in a high stakes card game."

Blackfire looked at him as if he had spontaneously turned into her sister before asking "You're joking right? He's joking right?" She asked Hondo.

To which the space pirate smiled sinisterly and shook his head no. "He owns our loyalty now and the ship, which has a crew of sixty-four, passenger seating of up to two-hundred, a compliment of six Flarestar-class Weequay ships, a dozen WLO-5 speeder tanks, a cargo capacity of four-hundred-fifty tons, and a class one hyper drive as well as one years' worth of consumables."

Garfield responded to all of this with a "Dayum~!"

Blackfire's eyes bulged as she looked at him and asked "Wow BB, you planning any hostile world takeovers I don't know about?" she joked.

The changeling shook his head "No not at the moment but if I ever get that itch, it's nice to know I can scratch it."

This caused the princess to laugh and ask "Ok, who are you and what have you done with the green goofball I remember?"

"Shit happened Blazing B, some serious shit happened." He said suddenly becoming depressed much to the princesses and the pirate's puzzlement.

"You wanna I dunno talk about it?" Blackfire offered to which Garfield shook his head.

"No, not right now, not today at any rate." He glanced outside before saying "Look, its getting dark and I should be heading back to my place for the night..."

Blackfire reached out and grasped his hand "Wait, before you go, since you own the ship now you own the cargo so could you...umm..." she trailed off.

"Yeah, what is it Blackfire?" he asked sounding tired and impatient.

"Could you free the rest of the prisoners'?" she asked.

He blinked twice, not sure if he had heard right but then he smiled "Well looks like someone made some friends huh?" he ribbed.

She glared at him saying "Shut up lima bean! I just don't like the idea of leaving those girls tied up in the hands of these creeps is all. In fact, seeing as you're the hero here, shouldn't you do the right thing and make sure we all have someplace safe to sleep tonight?" she said smirking predatorily.

_'Damn her.'_ He thought as he sighed before he turned to Hondo and said "Hondo release the other prisoners and then, if you would be so kind, give us all a lift back to the duchess's palace where I'm staying. If you behave, I'll see what I can do to get you boys inside." He promised.

Both the Tamaranean and the Weequay blinked as they stared at him in shock "You're staying at the Duchess' estate? How did you pull that off?" Hondo finally asked.

"Hondo my man-"Garfield said as he put an arm around the Weequay's shoulder "There are all kinds of door that open up when your captain is a Jedi as you are going to find out. Now-"He said giving him a light shove "Go unleash those prisoners! We're burning daylight here!"

"Kid, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship, and deadly partnership." He said before he started barking out commands to his men.

"So, Jedi huh?" Blackfire's voice came from behind him, making him turn to see her amused look.

He shrugged "Yeah as it turns out. Cool huh?"

She nodded "Very much so." She said before smiling and taking his hand dragging him toward the ship where several confused alien girls were disembarking as she said "C'mon hero, your adoring crowd awaits. Plus you need to convince the Duchess to let us crash at her place."

_'Well, I just remembered that I left the estate without telling Fay or Satine where I was going...I am so dead, and now I'm bringing home pirates and former ransom girls. This, is gonna be fun.'_ He thought sourly to himself as he continued to smile all the while.

* * *

Fay was worried Garfield had been missing for several hours now and she had been scouring the city looking for him, so far without success. She trudged back up the steps of the duchess's estate covered in dirt, worried about her Padawan, and dejected.

_'Be safe Garfield.'_ She thought looking back over the horizon from the steps of Satine's home...only to see a Weequay cruiser-class ship rapidly approaching.

"What the hell?!" she said holding her ground yet preparing to use the force to jump out of the way if necessary.

Thankfully just seven feet before it would've crashed into anything the ship came to a full stop and the gangplank lowered and from there she heard a very familiar voice say "See, told ya I could pilot this thing you were worried for no reason Hondo."

"Yeah of course boss and those half dozen buildings' you crashed into getting her into the air were no cause for concern?" A Weequay in a longcoat and pirate gear said sarcastically.

"Hey it's not my fault! I've never driven a stick shift before- Oh, hey Master didn't seeya there-"Garfield didn't get to finish as he suddenly found himself glomped into a hug as she said "Don't you ever scare me like that again! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" She then held him at arm's length and the changeling could see the tears in her eyes as she said "I thought I'd lost you."

"You worry too much teach, I can't die on you until I achieve the rank of master at least. So, knowing that, you can chillax alright?" He joked.

The tender moment was broken when both master and apprentice heard a collective 'awe' behind them. The two turned to lock eyes with several female aliens. There were two Twi'leks both blue skinned, with one slightly shorter and younger than the other, two Zeltros women one with red skin and purple hair, and another with pink skin and hair. Two Falleen women with green skin, an adolescent Togruta girl, with a near full set of montrails, and finally an orange skinned dark haired green eyed young woman who stood at the fore with her arms crossed and a smirk in her lips seemingly in charge of the female herd. All of them seemed to be dressed in rather revealing rags.

"Garfield just who are these women?" Fay asked arching any eyebrow at her padawan.

"Umm, how about we find Satine and then I'll explain?" He offered.

"I'm already here." The duchess' voice cut in as she made her way up to them as she was followed by several armed soldiers "Surely you didn't think I wouldn't notice a crusier-class ship parking right in front of my home?" she asked rhetorically.

"Would you think less of me if I said yes?" the green skinned padawan asked.

"Garfield!" Fay admonished "Be respectful, and stop avoiding the question. What are these girls and this ship full of Weequay pirates doing on Satine's doorstep?" his master demanded.

"Well that's kinda a funny story, but before I tell it can we go inside? I'm starving and I already made the boys promise they wouldn't take anything..._right guys_?" he questioned looking at pirates sideways.

"I swear upon my mothers' grave." Hondo promised.

Garfield gave the alien an odd look "I thought you told me on the way over here that your parents sold you into slavery and you haven't seen them since?" he questioned.

To which he nodded and replied "She did and I hope to that piece of bantha shit they worship, Quay, that she really is dead and may she rest in pieces."

"Right...anyway can we all come inside? Please Satine?" Gar begged.

Satine sighed but nodded saying "Fine but if anything ends up missing, I'm holding you personally responsible Garfield." She said while leading the way back in the house.

* * *

"Ok, so let me get this straight. You bet your freedom on a card game you've never even played before?! Garfield answer me honestly...are you insane?" Fay deadpanned at her padawan as she sat in a comfortable armchair. After dinner; she, the duchess, and her student had excused themselves to Satine's private study to hear the changelings' tale. Now that she had heard it she didn't know whether to congratulate him or berate him for doing something so foolhardy.

"Master you worry too much, I won, we have a cool new ship, and to top it all off we have minions now. How cool is that?"

The three century old Jedi sighed and said "Allies Gar, we have allies not minions. While I do not agree with what you did, you are correct that I can't argue with the results. Speaking of results could you take your glove off and hold out your finger for me?" she asked.

He gave his master an odd look be did as she asked she then took out a small hand held device and held it up to his finger...

"Ouch! You didn't say that thing was gonna poke me!" he said sucking on his finger and sulking.

"Oh come now, you can bet your life in a game of Sabacc but when it comes to a small poke with a needle you're a big baby?" Fay questioned.

Garfield gave her a mild glare "It's not the pain that bothers me, I just don't like needles... _at all_. What did you need to poke me for anyway?" he questioned irritated.

"How about you get some sleep Gar, you've had a long eventful day. I'll tell you tomorrow I promise." The Jedi Master told him.

Sensing the seriousness of the situation Gar nodded before saying "Goodnight Fay, goodnight Satine."

"Goodnight Garfield" both women said at once.

After the changeling had left the room Satine asked "Fay, what is it?"

Wordlessly she gave the Mandalorian bureaucrat the device. It was midi chlorian counter used to tell the number of the microscopic organisms' in an individual cell of a living being. She looked at the number at the bottom of the counter that signified Garfield's Midi Chlorians per Cell count. It read:

**36,436,830.**

* * *

**Chapter End**

**Chap length: 10,190 - Date completed 11/25/13**

* * *

**AN: Yo everybody and welcome to the first chap of my fic Edge of a Coin. Why is it called that? Well, because I've always viewed the Sith and the Jedi as two equal yet opposite extremes, as opposite sides of the same coin. But what about someone who chose to balance themselves between the two, to walk the edge of a coin if you will? Well that's what we're gonna find out. I hope you all enjoyed. If you did please feel free to review. Till next time everyone, Bubbajack out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Edge of a Coin**

**Written by Bubbajack**

**Beta: Diller**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Star Wars, DC, or Marvel characters that may show up in this fic, I just own the plot.**

**Arc 1: New Perspectives **

**Ch.2: The exiled bladesmith**

* * *

Garfield woke up feeling groggy yet extremely warm in the bed provided him by the duchess. _'I love this bed! I'm gonna ask Hondo if he can smuggle it onto the ship for me without Satine noticing...'_ he thought as he stretched...

Only for his hand to reach out and grasp something feeling both warm and soft. _'What the heck?'_ he thought giving the mysterious thing a squeeze, only to receive a throaty moan in response which froze his blood in his veins.

Slowly, as if a dangerous animal was behind him Garfield turned around. When he did, he couldn't believe what he was seeing much less what his hand was touching. Laying in his bed right next to him, currently with his hand squeezing her right breast over a silver silk nightgown, was one of the alien girls from the other day! Doing his best not to scream the changeling slowly uncupped his hand and attempted to pull it away only for the sleeping girl to clutch the offending hand closer and roll over in her sleep, taking him with her before she grasped his whole body tightly.

_'She must cling to things in her sleep.'_ The changeling thought, before he tried shapeshifting into snake hoping to slither out of her grasp, she only clung to him tighter however.

_'Well, this...kinda sucks. I can't get away from her, and when she wakes up she's probably gonna beat the crap outta me.' _He thought resignedly before he changed back to his original form and sighed.

"Well, if I'm gonna be stuck in bed with a pretty girl I might as well enjoy it." He muttered to himself before he shifted himself around to get comfortable in the girls' arms.

As he lay there he couldn't help but examine the girls' face. She lacked any hair but instead, had a pair of curved horns and three white tentacles that looked like hair braids descending from her skull that were covered in black stripes. Her skin was a light brown color like that of creamer stirred into coffee not that he drank the stuff too bitter, her lips as well as her eyelashes were both thick and full. She also had various white tattoos framing her face.

_ 'Well it could be worse.'_ The changeling thought to himself _'Someone could walk in here and totally read the situation wrong...'_

Then, as if by magic, the changelings door suddenly opened and his master walked in talking all the while "Garfield it is almost ten don't you think it's about time you got-" Titania stopped talking as she finally realized what kind of situation she had walked in on.

When she did, she gave her padawan a cool look "Garfield, I can't believe you! We have no idea how these ladies have been treated and then you go and sleep with one of them!" she hissed angrily before stalking out of the room.

_'No wait Master please! You're misunderstanding the situation. She clings to things in her sleep, she won't let me go! Help me!'_ Garfield mentally begged hoping she would stop.

To his surprise she did indeed stop and turned to look at her apprentice quizzically for a moment before, to his astonishment, he heard her voice in his head asking _'So, you didn't sleep with her then?'_

Bearing a shocked expression he mentally asked so as not to wake up the clingy alien_ 'Huh? What the hell is going on?! How the heck can I hear you in my head?!' _

Titania chuckled at the face her apprentice was making for a moment, allowing her calmness towards the situation to seep through and affect him before continuing _'You can hear my thoughts and feel my feelings Garfield because you are my Padawan and I am your Master as such we have a bond forged by the force between the two of us. It's now official; you're now my padawan, congratulations.'_ She said beaming at him with pride.

_'Umm cool...I can turn this off right? Cause I've lived with a telepath most of my life and then an empath so I-'_Garfield stopped when he saw his master raise her hand for silence.

_'Yes indeed Garfield you can in fact 'turn off' the force bond or more precisely you can block me from hearing your thoughts and emotions. Though I hope that, in time, you come to trust me to the point you won't want to block me out. However, I understand your need for privacy considering your unique upbringing. With that in mind, I will endeavor to use the bond to communicate with you as little as possible unless your life is endangered does that sound acceptable?'_ she offered.

_'Yeah, sounds good to me and who knows, this could be really cool.'_ He thought back allowing her to feel his optimism.

_'I'm glad you think so, the last thing I wanted was for you to think I was violating your trust by forcing my way into your head. Also, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions earlier that was uncalled for.'_ She said giving him a sorrowful glance.

He gave her a thumb up _'It's fine anyone would've misunderstood walking in on something like that. But if you really wanna make it up to me, care to get me outta this without waking her up?' _He pleaded.

_'Of course.'_ She responded with a nod as she used the force to telekinetically move the Togruta girls' arms from around her student, allowing him to slip from the bed; but not before he put a pillow in his place.

"Phew, I thought I'd never get outta there, thanks Fay." He said in a minute whisper, to which the Jedi Master nodded before levitating his clothes over to him with a slight haze on her cheeks.

Glancing down at himself, Garfield realized he was in nothing but his purple boxers, and despite his embarrassment and overwhelming urge to scream like a girl at the moment, he merely nodded at his teacher and donned his robe and cloak, nabbing both his boots and gloves as the two made their way out of the room.

Once they were halfway down the hall Garfield, trying to clear the awkward air said "Well that's one way to start the morning huh?"

The Jedi Master couldn't help but roll her eyes at her Padawans statement and respond "That's one way of putting it I suppose Garfield."

The duo silently made their way towards the dining hall and once they had sat down, with Garfield being courteous enough to pull out his Master's chair for her, he asked "So, what's on the agenda for today teach?"

Fay thought about answering him, but she was genuinely curious about the planet on which her apprentice grew up. It obviously wasn't as technologically advanced as any of the planets that were a part of the Galactic Republic, so she could only summarize that his homeworld existed somewhere in deep space that has yet to be explored. Unable to contain her curiosity she asked "Gar, do you think you could tell me about your homeworld? I'm rather curious about it."

The changeling blinked in surprise at the request but smiled and indulged his masters curiosity "Well, it's a pretty nice planet all things considered. It has jungles, oceans, deserts, big sprawling cities like this one but not nearly as big or as diverse with its people. The only sentient life on the planet is humans and a few aliens but not enough to be considered a population onto themselves." He explained.

She nodded at her protégés explanation before asking "Were you one such alien?"

Surprisingly the green boy shook his head "No actually I was actually born human but...well something happened and now I look like this." He said evasively.

Fay cocked her head to the side in concern this was not the first time he had avoided talking about a subject. She had, during their ten day voyage, asked him about his family only for him to quickly change the subject or say nothing at all. But this time she felt his pain coming through there bond which prompted her to ask "Garfield, what happened?"

For a moment the Jedi master thought her apprentice was going to waive off the question as one of no importance. But instead, he locked his eyes onto the tabletop and spoke in a hollow dead tone "I wasn't always green ya know?" He sighed slightly before continuing. "At one point I had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a tanned complexion. I was normal."

Garfield paused and his master could feel his hesitance to continue. She wanted to tell him he didn't need to keep going if he didn't want to, but before she could say anything he began speaking again.

"But then, came the day I was in the jungles of the Ivory Coast with my parents. They were biologists working on finding the common genetic link between all life on the planet. I was six at the time and I had an affinity with animals. That is why when I came across a green monkey in the jungle that looked hurt, I immediately ran up to it to see if I could help it. That was the second biggest mistake of my life."

Fay felt another even more intense wave of pain come from her student yet he continued on "It turns out that monkey had a rare disease, one called Sakutai which was lethal to humans but only turned the animal that contracted it green. I came incredibly close to dying until my dad finally decided to inject me with a serum that was derived from my parents' research. It managed to cure me, but it also turned me green, and gave me pointed ears and fangs."

Feelings of despair then flowed through the force bond like a currant "No one treated me the same after that. They always stared at me like I was some kind of animal, a freak. The only people who cared were my parents and a family friend called King Tawaba; and then, one day it happened. I'd recently been teased by some kids in the village and being only six at the time, I just wanted to be left alone. Which is why, when my parents asked me if I wanted to take a ride down the river in a boat with them, I lashed out and I shouted at them, blaming them for the way I look, then I told them to go without me, that I didn't want to be around them right then."

The mental anguish coming from her padawan was so great, that the Jedi Master had to shut off their connection just to hold onto her sanity.

Still in that dull monotone Garfield continued "My mom and dad never came back from that trip. Something ended up happening to their boat and they were swept over a waterfall. I failed to save my mom and dad and couldn't even do the decent thing and die with them; instead I just told them I didn't want to be with them..."

Slap.

Garfield looked at the woman who had struck him and simply asked "Why?"

"Why?" Blackfire raged from across the table which she was still currently leaning on for support as she reared back to strike the changeling again only for the other girls as well as Satine and several of Ohnaka's pirates to grab the woman preventing her from striking the Jedi trainee.

"You mean to tell me you basically admit to wishing you were dead and you have the balls to ask me why? By X'hal Lima Bean! Where do you think me and the others would be right now if you were dead, huh?" Blackfire hissed at him angrily while more and more pirates piled on top of her in an effort to hold her down.

The Tamaranean princess threw them off her as if they weighed no more than empty milk cartons. She folded her arms in front of her and, her emerald eyes glowing purple with raw power ground out "In that shithole of a pirate ship that's where with no freedom, no hope, nothing!"

"Hey!" Hondo said before promptly shutting up when the Tamaranean turned her gaze upon him before turning it back to the main focus of her wrath "Now you listen to me Beast Boy, you can't blame yourself for crap that not only happened more than ten years ago, but more than that; would your parents want you to die with them?"

"Yeah, how do you think they would feel if they knew you were talking like this sugar?" chimed in the all pink Zeltron in a bubbly yet somehow seductive voice. The woman looked at him with concerned alluring lavender eyes who was currently wearing skin tight all back body suit that was unzipped just enough to show off her ample cleavage as well as a pair of white gloves and matching colored boots.

The other Zeltron with purple hair was wearing a black and yellow outfit consisting of a black t-shirt that cut off around her midriff, a yellow jacket that had black stripes going down the arms and matching pants that tightly hugged her hips. She cocked her head to the side and asked "Where would all the people you ever saved be if you weren't around to save them huh?" she asked playfully trying to lighten the mood, yet just like the other one, Garfield could detect seductive undertones, though they were much more subtle.

"Dead I suppose." The Padawan responded.

Next it seemed to be the Falleen woman's' turn as one of them who was wearing a white robe held closed with a red sash said "You should not linger on the past it does you no good. Look towards the future instead." She advised.

"Tyrina is right. Dwelling on the past solves nothing. All you can do is learn from your mistakes so this does not happen again." The other Falleen woman said.

Garfield seemed saddened by the woman's flawless logic but nodded nonetheless "Right." He said before looking up, a confused look on his face.

"You know I just realized that, besides Blackfire, I don't know any of your names." He said motioning to the other girls he'd rescued yesterday.

Taking that as her queue, the all pink Zeltron woman went first, leaning forward over the table to give the changeling a full view of her ample cleavage, smirking seductively as she flipped her bubblegum pink hair out of her face, and winking at him with her violet eyes she said "My names Astara sweetie, it's a pleasure I'm sure. Then again, I could think of a way we could make this _oh so much more_ _pleasurable _for the both of us." She purred happily.

Garfield laughed nervously "Umm, don't take this the wrong way, but I'd like to get to know you better first, maybe take you out on a date, and get to know you as a person before anything like _that_ happens. Does that sound ok to you Astara?" he offered as a compromise.

The Zeltronian female blinked '_He managed to resist my pheromones! This young man is interesting and he actually wants to get to know me, not just sleep with me...that's...nice.'_ she thought as she felt an odd fluttering feeling in her chest. She was so caught up in this strange new feeling that she almost missed what he said next.

"Plus, I'm sure you'd all rather go home than be stuck with me anyway."

This caused Astara to frown and she opened her mouth to retort but before she could her sister spoke first "Don't be too sure of that, you saved us and I'm not sure about the others, but my sister and I owe you now sweetie. I'm Ziva by the way." She said with slight smile on her lips as she eyed up the green teen.

Astara turned and glared into her sister's matching amethyst eyes "Back off Ziva, he's mine!" she hissed.

The now named Ziva raised a pencil thin purple eyebrow at her sister that same demure smile on her lips as she said "But dear sister did he not just reject your advances?"

Astara's eyes narrowed "Shut up you fat bantha! He asked me out on a date first, which more than I can say for most of the men you've picked up. You'll drag some random stranger off the street if you think he's cute enough to have a good time with!"

Garfield wasn't sure if it was the bantha comment or the fact that her sister basically called her a slut, but next thing he knew the two voluptuous women were doing their best to kill each other. It was in the middle of some rather vicious hair pulling that Garfield realized something...

_'Holy shit, there fighting over me!' _

Part of him was flattered, as this had never happened to him back on Earth, another part of him was concerned as he didn't want the two sisters to hate each other over him nor did he want them to potentially get hurt over him. That's why he decided to break up the fight.

"Girls?" he said trying and failing to get their attention"Girls that's enough." He said.

It was then that Hondo, who had slinked over after being glared at by the exiled Tamaranean princess whispered into his commanders ear "I don't think that's gonna work boss. Might I suggest trying some of those fancy Jedi tricks? Although, I gotta admit a part of me is loath to break up this fight, it's not every day you see two Zeltron women fighting over one man."

Garfield rolled his eyes at his second in command's antics before he said loud enough for the others to hear "Cover your ears, this is gonna be loud!"

Once he made sure that everyone did as he asked, Garfield used the Force to enhance his voice before he shouted **"ENOUGH!"**

That did the trick, as the noise generated by his voice shocked the two supermodel-like aliens out of their fight.

Seeing that the two had ceased fighting Garfield cleared his throat and said "While I'm flattered that two lovely ladies such as yourselves would fight over me, your both sisters and that bond should always come first. Boyfriends come and go, but family? Family is forever...at least in most cases." He added as an afterthought.

The two Zeltronian women looked at each other guiltily. It was Ziva who spoke first "Sister..."

"No, you don't have to say anything. It was my fault; I should've known you were just teasing." Astara said while shaking her head in embarrassment.

"Let's just agree we both messed up here as well as made a bad first impression on Garfield, agreed?" Ziva proposed.

Astara nodded "Agreed." She said before turning to the padawan and saying "I hope you can forgive my sister and me for that childish display. It's just that..." She trailed off.

"Just that what?" the green skinned padawan asked perplexed.

Ziva came to her sister's rescue. Clearing her throat, she said smoothly "With your permission, we would like to tell you at a later date." She requested.

"Sure that's fine, now who's next?" Garfield asked.

"I do believe that would be us." The green skinned women wearing the white robe and the red sash said stepping forward with someone whom Garfield assumed was her sister who was dressed in a polar opposite wearing a red robe held shut with a white sash.

"Well I know who you are." Garfield said pointing to the one in white and red "Your Tyrina right?"

For just a fraction of a second he thought he saw a ghost of a smile on the stoic woman's face but it was gone as quickly as it came and she said neutrally "That is correct young padawan, and this is my sister whom I believe would like to introduce herself."

The other women, who like her sister, had green skin and narrow angular features with a slight crest angling out from between her eyes also had small green scales under her eyes. He looked closer at Tyrina and noticed that she too possessed small scales but they were on her cheeks.

_'Well, at least now I know how to tell them apart, as aside from that, they look exactly the same. It would be annoying to constantly get them mixed up.'_ He thought relieved.

It was true, both women possessed angular features, green skin, slight crests in between the spaces between their eyebrows and both possessed ebony black hair that was held back in a simple yet elegant ponytail.

"I am Ocheeva, it is a pleasure to properly make your acquaintance Padawan Garfield." She said as stoically as a certain empath he knew.

"Pleasure is all mine Ocheeva, but for the record, I technically don't consider myself a Jedi in training even though I'm being trained by a Jedi Master, a damn fine Jedi Master." He said giving his master a respectful nod which was returned with a beaming smile.

"Umm, excuse me for asking this, but if you don't consider yourself a Jedi then what do you consider yourself Mr. Garfield?" the tentacle haired alien who held onto him this morning asked.

"I consider myself someone who walks his own path, one of neither denying myself the pleasure of feeling emotions, nor allowing my emotions to control my actions. In my humble opinion, both the Jedi and their counterparts are flawed. No offence meant Master." He said looking at the elfin woman.

"None taken Garfield, now please continue with your explanation, I've been waiting to hear this." Fay responded.

The changeling nodded "Ok, well while I was reading the other day I came across the history of the Jedi Order and honestly, I can't say I like what I read. First off, they take children from their parents likely to never see them again, and for what? Because they are told it's the best place for them? Because they Jedi clans are the only place they could be trained?!" He asked his voice rising with every word.

He then slammed his fist on the table and continued his rant "NO! They take children away from their parents and people who know and love them because for a Jedi, passion is forbidden. Forming connections to others is forbidden. Love is forbidden..." He then uttered in a bitter whisper "And thus forming a family and having children is forbidden which is why they basically kidnap children in the first place, as children born between two Jedi are practically unheard of."

He then took a moment to compose himself before he continued "And the Sith? They allow themselves to be ruled, controlled by their passions. To the point where fear becomes paranoia, anger lead them to kill even their closest friends if they dare disagree with or question them, and their passions become obsessions'. In the end, the only thing that matters to a Sith is power, that and cheating death; because unlike the Jedi who at least accept death, the Sith fear it with every fiber of their being." He concluded.

Master Fey couldn't help but agree with her student. Part of the reason she left Coruscant after attaining the rank of Master was because she had a massive disagreement with the ruling Jedi Council at the time as she found the practice of taking younglings from their parents just to teach them the Jedi ways unnecessary. She proposed building a Jedi Temple on every planet connected to the Republic, as that way, the younglings could remain close to their parents and Jedi could always be on hand to handle any arising disputes.

But sadly, her proposal was shot down by both the High Council at the time of which Yoda was a member as well as the Galactic Senate thinking it would be 'too costly' to build and maintain so many temples for the Jedi Order. So, she left. She left and fought tyranny wherever she found it leaving everything, even her lightsaber; behind her. On her many journeys, she had run into the occasional Fallen Jedi, so she knew well the Sith's fear of death and couldn't agree more with her padawans' assessment of both organizations.

She was pulled out of her reverie by the voice of the Twi'lek youngling no older than twelve introducing herself as Astraal Secunda.

"Oh, so I see you're out of lala land huh Master? Did you have a nice trip?" Garfield joked.

Shooting her apprentice a half-hearted glare she said "Quiet you, and tell me what I missed?"

Fay's apprentice however remained silent and said nothing.

"Garfield, tell me the names of the ones I missed out on please." She asked again.

To which he sighed and said "First you tell me to be quiet, and then you want me to talk. Which is it Master?"

"Garfield..." she said warningly stretching out his name "Don't make me come over there."

"That's San'dara Secura." He said pointing to the older of the two Twi'leks. "And that's Ashara Tano." He said nodding to the Togruta who had him in a death-grip earlier.

"Ladies." Fay said giving each woman a brief nod of acknowledgment.

"Master Fay." They both responded simultaneously while giving the Jedi Master a bow.

"Now that we have introductions out of the way, what do you say we all go shopping?" Satine said speaking for the first time today to Garfield's knowledge.

"Hey now that I think about it, where did you girls get those clothes anyway?" the changeling asked.

"Why did you like seeing us in next to nothing Beast Boy?" Blackfire asked a coy smile on her face.

The young man was at a loss. _'If I say yes, I'll be labeled a pervert for sure. But if I say no, they'll likely think I don't find them attractive, which also couldn't be further from the truth. Damn you Blackfire!'_ he thought to himself.

_'Any ideas Master?'_ he asked.

_'Tell them what they want to hear without leaning one way or the other, that way you can't be labeled a pervert nor can they say you find them undesirable.'_ She advised through their bond.

_'Ok, I can do that, I think...'_ he thought to himself before he said "Well what can I say Blackfire? You all look so good, that even rags couldn't hide your natural beauty. But I have to admit, you look even better in proper clothes."

The group of women looked at each other and nodded before Blackfire turned to him and said "Well played Beast Boy, well played."

Rubbing his temples in annoyance he said "Thanks, I don't know what for really, but thanks. Now, are you going to answer my question about the clothes?"

"I gave them clothes that no longer fit me or that I no longer wear." Satine responded.

"Ah, but where are we going to get money to go shopping?" He asked.

The Duchess raised an amused eyebrow and said "Garfield you are my guest, as such I would happily pay for any expenses you may require, as for these ladies it would not feel right to me if I didn't buy them some proper wardrobes."

Garfield looked at his newfound friend concernedly "Are you sure I mean, this little shopping trip could cost you a lot of money."

This merely caused her to laugh and wave off his worries saying "If I wasn't sure I wouldn't be offering in the first place. Now come along everyone, it is nearly one and Mandelore only has a nineteen hour rotation cycle a decent portion of which is already gone."

With that, Satine Kryze led the way to Sundari market...

* * *

For the next two hours, Garfield was dragged from store to store, by a gaggle of women and asked his opinion on various outfits. He had just run out of a store red faced and accidently bumped into someone knocking them both to the ground.

Shaking off the brief dizziness, he turned to the other person to find an older man seemingly in his late forties to early fifties. He had tanned leather looking skin, which was lined with age and a prominent scar going from his left temple to the right side of his jaw, just barely missing his right eye. He had dark hair that was flecked with grey and white and stern cobalt blue eyes that gazed at the padawan learner dispassionately from beneath thick eyebrows. He wore a simple grey outfit that was covered in soot consisting of a thick leather apron, gloves, shirt, and thick pants and boots.

Quickly getting up Garfield offered the older man a hand up while apologizing "I am so sorry sir; I wasn't looking where I was going! This was totally my bad dude."

The gruff old-timer glanced at the boys' outstretched hand for a moment before he grunted and accepted it, saying "Quite alright boy, I'm used to young people running around without a care for other people these days." He then stood and got a good look at the changelings still red face.

Curious he looked into the store where the boy had rushed out of and quickly summarized why the boy was in such a rush to get outside: An all pink Zeltron woman in nothing but a lacy black bra and thong would be enough to make any man lose his wits.

Chuckling to himself he turned back to the guilty looking young man and said "Well, maybe I misjudged you boy. A Zeltron in next to nothing and you didn't faint? You must be made of sterner stuff than most." He said giving the boy an appraising once over.

Garfield scratched the back of his head and said "Umm, thank you?"

The old man merely nodded in response before saying "Follow me."

Quickly letting his Master know he was going to take a look around via their bond, Garfield took off after the old man.

After man twists and turns the two came back to the very same bar Garfield had beaten Hondo at Sabacc in. Smiling at the memory Garfield followed the older man into the bar. When they entered, they were immediately hailed by the barkeep "Hey Jaxson, back again? And who's that with you?"

"Hello Dix, this is some youngin who managed to not pass out after seeing a Zeltron near naked or jump her for that matter."

"Is that so..." The barkeep said getting a good look at the boy one of his usual's, Jaxson Nixton brought in with him only to laugh uproariously when he realized who it was. "Well as I'll be if it isn't the polite young man who won Hondo Ohnaka's eternal loyalty and ship in a game of cards! How are you kid, or should I call you captain now?" he joked.

"No, no need for that. You can just call me Garfield." The young man said embarrassed. _'It was just a game of cards no need to make a big deal out of it.' _He thought.

He looked over at the man who he followed here to see him looking at him with the biggest smirk on his face. "So you're the one who bet Hondo out of his ship huh?"

Garfield nodded "Yes Mr. Nixton that was me."

"Kid, call me Jax everyone calls me Jax. Dix, two drinks please one Corellian brandy and one..?" he asked questioningly.

"Glass of Bantha milk please."

"Bantha milk?" Jax questioned.

Gar gave him a look "I'm only sixteen and I'm not even sure what the drinking age is on this rock, gimmie a break ok?"

Jax was surprised most kids his age wouldn't give to bantha shits about the drinking age but this offworlder, this outsider had more respect than most kids he could think of in this day and age.

Absentmindedly grabbing his drink he led the kid over to a table and after taking a sip of his expensive brandy asked him to tell him the tale of how Hondo Ohnaka lost his ship.

"Not much to tell really." The boy said taking a drink of his milk before continuing "It was the best of ten games and I won six of them that's all there is to it."

"Oh really?" Jax said conspiratorially "Cause rumor has it, that the person Ohnaka lost to...was a Jedi." He finished looking at the boy pointedly.

"Am I a force-user? Yes. But do I consider myself a Jedi? No." Beast Boy replied honestly.

Jax eyeballed the boy in front of him while periodically taking sips of his brandy. The two sat in silence nursing their drinks for several minutes before Jax asked "So then if you're not a Jedi are you a Sith?"

Garfield shook his head "No, I have my own outlook on the force and how it works."

It was now the younger man's turn to give the older man a searching look.

_'I'm getting an odd feeling that the force is at work here.'_ He thought to himself before allowed the force to guide him on what he said next "How do you know about the Jedi or the Sith? I thought Mandalorians were warriors and bounty hunters, not scholars."

"Well for your information boy, you are looking at the only disciple of Felanil Baaks the famous Jedi Artisan and master lightsaber crafter." Jax boasted.

"Who?" Garfield asked.

Jax looked at him like he was an idiot "You know, Felanil Baaks, the Duro who all the younglings how to build a lightsaber, that Felanil Baaks? Sheesh kid, I know you're what sixteen but I'm pretty sure you'd remember Felanil. I mean, you only learn how to build a lightsaber right before you are ready to become a padawan learner."

_'Ah, he thinks I'm from that Temple place on Coruscant.' _Gar realized.

"Umm, I hate to break it to you Jax, but in complete and total honesty, I've never been to Coruscant, never been to the Jedi Temple, and never met Master Baaks. I don't even have a lightsaber see?" he said holding open his robe for inspection.

To say Jax was astounded would be an understatement _'Ok so this kid is sixteen by the look of it, never been to the Temple, wasn't raised at the Temple, has not constructed a lightsaber yet, and likely doesn't know heads or tails of lightsaber combat. Just who the kriff is this boy's Master to think they can break procedure like this?'_

When he asked the boy that very question, the answer made him down his drink, order another one and tell Dix to leave the bottle for him this time.

"So you mean to tell me, that your master is none other than the Master Fay?" he asked.

The green boy nodded "Yeah, is she famous or something?"

Jax was starting to get the feeling that, wherever this boy was from, it was a long, **_long _**way away from anywhere even remotely connected to the Republic, as if it was the boy would have heard of his master, at least by proxy, which is why he asked him "Just where are you from kid?"

"Someplace that doesn't even know a galactic republic even exists." He said cryptically.

Jax poured himself another shot before asking "I see, and how did you end up here pray tell?"

"Let's just say I've fought monsters, alien invaders, crazies who threatened to blow up my own planet, and numerous other things in my short time alive, but none of that can even hold a candle to the raging unstoppable force that is a jealous woman." He responded with a scathing, yet somehow dry, and humorous tone.

Jax looked at his drink then he looked at the young kid in front of him before he pushed his glass towards him and said "Here, I think you need this more than I do." He told the kid before motioning for another glass.

"Thanks." The changeling said before downing the brandy without a second thought. It burned slightly, but it was a good kind of burn. It lessened the pain he felt at being a castaway in a completely different part of the galaxy, for all her knew, a different galaxy altogether.

"So, how long have you been Master Fay's apprentice?" he asked.

"About three weeks." The boy responded honestly.

_'What the hell, ok legendary Jedi or not when I see her, Fay is getting a piece of my mind! She knows damn well how dangerous this is, teaching a kid his age how to use the force!' _he thought angrily.

"Garfield Logan what do you think you're doing?!" A harmonious voice tinged with anger suddenly rang out.

_'Oh fuck me. The one time I take a drink...'_ The changeling thought as he watched his master Titania Fay come striding up to their table her grey eyes like furious storm clouds.

* * *

It was getting late, and her Padawan had still not returned to the group. Growing worried, Titania Fay decided to use her newly formed force bond to locate her apprentice, while the others headed back to Satine's estate without her.

_'Well almost everyone.'_ Titania thought dryly as she looked at the woman following her.

"You shouldn't be here Satine, you're the Duchess, if something happened to you-"She tried to warn, only for Satine to raise a hand and say "Don't be ridiculous Titania, Garfield may be your padawan, but in the short time I've known him, he has done some rather interesting things and besides, I couldn't live with myself if something happened to one of my guests and I could've done something to prevent it."

The Jedi Master sighed but held her tongue; knowing noting she said could change the woman's mind. So the two followed the force bond in silence until they came to the seedier part of town, to a rather rundown looking bar where the pull of the bond was strongest.

_'I don't like the look of this.'_ Both women thought simultaneously, before looking at each other and nodding.

Naturally, the Jedi Master stepped into the bar first. She quickly located her apprentice and what she saw annoyed her to no end.

_'Not only is he safe, sitting in a seedy bar on the bad side of town, but he's drinking underage!'_ she seethed internally before all her pent up worry turned to anger and her 'maternal instincts' towards her padawan took over as she shouted from across the room "Garfield Logan, what do you think you're doing?!" before she marched over to him slightly relishing the 'oh fuck me.' Look in her padawans eyes.

Stopping in front of the table, she looked at her apprentice concernedly "Garfield, you are only sixteen; you are not old enough to drink." She said worriedly, her flash of anger quickly giving way to concern that this might become a problem in the future.

"Umm, I've only had one drink Master. I've been drinking bantha milk most of the night and making casual conversation with this nice gentleman here." He said waving towards the man he was sharing the table with.

Said man gave him a look that said _'Thanks kid.'_ As the Jedi Master honed her sights in on him her anger coming back full force "I see." She said hotly.

"Hey now, before you fly off the handle and force push me through a wall let me just say that if anyone deserves to be bitched at it, it's you cheeka." He said pointing a finger at her.

"Excuse me?!" She asked becoming instantly agitated.

Ignoring her, the man continued "Yes you, what the hell is going through your head, teaching a boy his age how to use the force, are you nuts?! He's far too old to be taught the Jedi ways, you're a three hundred year old Jedi Master, and you know this damn well!"

Something Jax said shocked Garfield "What, dude your three hundred years old?" he asked his master.

Now Fay was embarrassed, though she didn't let it show in any noticeable way. _'Great he probably thinks I'm an old lady now.'_

What he said next totally shocked her "Dude, you must have some damn good genes, caused I pegged you for a supermodel in her mid-twenties when we first met."

_'Me, a supermodel, he can't be serious? Can he?'_ she thought her face heating up at the praise.

Jax couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he couldn't help but grin as he watched the scene play out in front of him _'She's totally head over heels for her own padawan, and he has no kriffing clue! Oh Force this is priceless!' _Suddenly a new thought crossed his mind which shocked him near senseless_ 'This brings a whole new meaning to the term cradle robbing, not to mention she's a total Vexnu, she's old yeah, but there is no denying she's attractive...I don't know whether to envy the kid or pity him right now.'_ The Mandalorian thought.

Suddenly a new, familiar voice joined the conversation "Well if it isn't Jaxson Nixton, it figures you'd be drinking your live away in a place like this."

Turning around to get a good look at her Jax responded "Well as I live and breathe, if it isn't Satine Kryze, come to visit your old babysitter and walk down memory lane over a few glasses of the good stuff?" he asked dryly raising his glass to the Duchess in a mock salute.

"Pff hardly, I am merely here to collect one of my guests." She said walking up to the table and nodding towards Garfield.

"Ah, I see. I don't suppose you'd be willing to spare enough time for one drink with your old minder eh?" he proposed as he motioned for the Besalisk bartender to bring two more glasses.

"I suppose I can indulge an old man for a moment. But only for a moment." She warned.

"Of course Duchess, of course." He said filling up her glass with Corellian brandy and handing it to her with a slight smirk.

Taking the glass with a slight roll of her eyes she asked "Just what kind of trouble were you getting yourself into this time Jax?"

"Nothing Little Satine, I would just like to know what a reputable Jedi Master like Master Fay is thinking teaching a boy of sixteen the ways of the force. It goes against the Jedi's principles to train one so old, and she knows this quite well." He said eying up the Jedi Master who had by now managed to calm herself down.

"I know very well that the High Council would not agree with my training of Garfield, but quite frankly Mr. Nixton, I don't give three bantha droppings what the council thinks regarding me and my apprentice. It was the force that led me to him, it is the will of the force that I train him, and 'll do my best to guide him on his chosen path." She said firmly.

Jax gave eyed her critically "Is that so?"

Fay nodded "It is." She said.

The Mandalorian seemed satisfied with this answer as he threw back his glass of brandy in one gulp, before standing up and saying "Well in that case, both you and Gar here are gonna need lightsabers. You're not really proper Jedi without em ya know? Swing by my shop tomorrow and I'll see what I can do for the two of you." He promised before heading towards the door giving both Satine and Dix respectful nods before he left.

"What the hell just happened?" the changeling asked no one in particular.

Fay just shook her head in disbelief and said "The Force works in mysterious ways Garfield. Come, let's go home. I'd like to be up early tomorrow to go to Mr. Nixton's."

* * *

The three then set off, waving goodbye to Dix in the process. They were halfway home when Garfield looked at his hostess and asked "So, Jax was your babysitter huh?"

"He was my minder when I was younger, yes." Satine responded somewhat stiffly.

Garfield was silent for a moment before he asked "So what's your beef with him?"

Satine sighed and said "It's the other way around he has 'beef' with me I'm afraid. He believes along with a majority of Mandalorians that by trying to become a peaceful and respectable planet I am spitting in the face of thousands of years of Mandalorian tradition and heritage."

Garfield nodded deep in thought for a while before he said "Well in a way, you kind of are."

"Excuse me?" She asked angrily, turning and facing the young padawan.

"Look, just hear me out ok. Coming from a completely outside point of view I'm gonna guess that Mandalorians were originally a tribal war-like culture correct?" he asked.

Seeing the Duchess nod he continued "And in your quest for peace an acceptance you and other 'New Mandalorians' turned your backs on the old ways of doing things? You know, learning how to fight and all that noise?"

Again she nodded "Of course, violence has no place in proper society, let alone in the Galactic Senate."

Garfield nodded "I see, that's where you messed up, right there." He said sagely.

"What do you mean? Where did I 'mess up'?" Satine asked.

"You don't see it, really?" he asked surprised.

"Why don't you explain it to her Garfield?" Fay prodded gently.

He sighed before nodding and saying "Ok, by trying to convert Mandelore to a pacifist society, you completely and totally disregarded the sacrifices of those that came before you to even make this possible in the first place. You could have spun it so that instead of using what they would be learning to attack and harm others, they would've been told it was for the defense of Mandelore or even the defense of the Republic. But you chose all or nothing, which is why people such as Jax are pissed off as not only have you turned your back on your heritage, but also you seem to have conveniently forgotten all the sacrifices of those that came before you to make this possible...those that fought so that you don't have to."

Satine looked like she had just been slapped _'Did I really go this far in the name of peace?'_

She was pulled out of various thoughts' by Garfield snapping his fingers in front of her face, looking apologetic.

"Sorry Satine, guess I was a bit too blunt." He apologized.

The duchess shook her head "No never apologize for being honest Garfield." She said before shaking her arms to ward off the chill of the night and saying "Come on, we should hurry back before a search party is sent out for us."

* * *

Pre Vizsla, the governor of one of Mandelore's moons that of Concordia, sat in his office that, while ornate, was full of trophies of animals he had hunted and killed himself like a true Mandalorian. This new pacifistic government of his friend was just insulting!

_'It goes against everything we've stood for; for as long as we've held the name of Mandalorians. Pacifists, I mean really Satine?'_ he thought in disgust.

Then one of buttons on the holoprojector built into his desk started flashing meaning someone was trying to contact him.

"Who could it be at this hour?" he muttered to himself before he hit the button and a miniature image of Satine Kryze came through the projector. She looked deeply troubled by something which intrigued Vizsla greatly.

"Duchess, is something wrong? You don't usually call me, especially at this hour." He said.

"Yes, hello Governor- I mean Pre. Yes indeed something is very much wrong, I can't believe I could've screwed things up so badly." She said sadly.

Now Vizsla was concerned. Satine hadn't called him by his first name in a very long time, insisting on the need to be professional. _'Kriff this must be serious.'_ He thought.

"Satine what's wrong? What happened?" He asked trying to make sense of what is going on.

Rubbing her temples in response she said "Pre, can you do me a big favor?"

"Depends, will you tell me what's going on first?" He asked.

"I've completely disregarded the sacrifices of those that put me in my position and it took someone being completely blunt with me for me to realize that fact. I would like to try and attempt to fix that mistake that is if you'll help me?" she asked.

Pre Vizsla was slack jawed; this was a complete one-eighty from the Satine he was used to. She was commanding, unyielding, and unwilling to listen to anything that had to do with how Mandelore used to be before the 'New Mandalorians' came into power. The fact that she had so suddenly changed her mind was as shocking as it was welcoming. Closing his mouth before Satine made some kind of witty remark he said "What do you need me to do?"

She beamed at him happily "I was hoping you'd be able to get in touch with the various tribal chiefs on my behalf? I'd like to speak with them. Could you arrange to meet with them here in Sundari? I figured with you being a member of a prominent clan you'd have a good chance of convincing them. Can do that for me?" she asked.

Vizsla was quiet for a moment before he said "On one condition."

"Which is?"

"I want to meet the person who brought you to your senses." He said.

"Oh shut up Pre." Satine said sulkily.

Chuckling to himself he nodded and said "I'll see what I can do Satine, but you know how some of the leaders can be. It could take time to convince them."

Satine's hologram nodded "Yes I know just do the best you can please." She asked.

"I will." He promised.

"Thank you Pre, good night." She said sounding more relieved than when she first appeared.

"Good night Satine." He said before the transmission cut out.

He knew this likely wasn't going to end well considering his past history with family, but he also knew this person should be contacted first before all others if he wanted even a marginal chance at success so he called the number and waited...

He didn't need to wait long as five minutes later a Mandalorian T-shaped helmet appeared in his holoprojector "Do you have a death wish Vizsla? Or did you just forget what I told you I'd do to you if you ever contacted me?" it asked angrily.

"I'm sorry Mandalore, but I felt there was news happening dirtside you should be made aware of." He apologized.

"Such as?" His tone was still angry yet curious.

"Satine Kryze just asked me to get in contact with all the clans she wishes to speak to them as soon as possible."

The helmeted figure was silent for several moments before he asked "Did she mention what for?"

"She said something about forgetting all the people who got her where she was today and wanting to make it right." Vizsla told the Mandalore.

"I see, and how did she come to this revelation?" Mandalore asked.

Despite the fact that he was speaking with someone who would want nothing better than to kill him, Pre Vizsla smirked and said "Apparently someone was extremely blunt with her and it got through that thick skull of hers."

"Interesting...And then, you called me knowing that if I asked them to appear they would, correct?" he surmised.

"Yes Mandalore." Vizsla responded.

The masked man was quiet for a very long time, so long that Pre Vizsla began to get nervous. Finally he said "We'll be in touch, and Vizsla?"

"Yes Mandalore?"

"Don't ever call this number again." With that he cut the connection, now all Vizsla knew he had to do was wait.

* * *

Garfield was up at the crack of dawn the next morning, too tired to sleep. Today was the day he was finally going to get a lightsaber. He was so excited.

_'Dude this is gonna be so awesome! I wonder what my lightsaber is gonna look like? Maybe it'll come in purple? I hope so. That would totally fit me.'_ He thought happily.

He suddenly heard a knocking at his door. "It's open." He called.

The door slid open and in stepped Ashara Tano wearing the same silver nightgown from before. Greeting her with a smile he said "Hey Ashara, what's up?"

"Hey Gar, I just wanted to apologize for earlier this morning. I tend to be clingy sorry about that." She said.

Garfield had completely forgotten about the incident earlier this morning, but now it came rushing back causing him to blush as he remembered accidently grabbing her breast. "D-don't worry about it no biggie." He told her.

"Did something happen when I was asleep?" she asked noticed his demeanor.

"Well when I woke up, I kinda didn't know what I was laying against so I felt around with my hand and..." He trailed off as his face became a dark brown due to his blush.

"You grabbed my chest?" she guessed.

He nodded ashamed of himself "Yeah, sorry." He said while looking at the ground.

"For what, it's not your fault and it's an even trade off if you ask me. I get a nice fluffy bantha to cuddle with and you got to cop a feel. I'd call that fair." Ashara said while slowly sauntering over to him.

What she hadn't told him is that, when he had gotten up, he had woken her up and so when he had accidently copped a feel she had been awake everything that happened after that had been deliberate on her part.

"So tell me, I'm curious...did they feel good?" she asked.

"Huh?" He squeaked out as she stalked closer and he remained hypnotized like a mouse enthralled by the movements of a snake.

"My chest did it feel good?" she asked her voice becoming husky.

"I umm well..." He was getting nervous but there was more to it than that. Instincts, instincts he had to keep a tight rein on lest he lose control of them were screaming at him:

**"Mate with her!"**

**"She wants you, make her yours!"**

**"Mark her as yours before another can lay claim!"**

Shaking off the near overpowering instincts, he told the Togruta girl "Yeah it was...nice, soft, but still firm."

She looked at him concernedly "Gar what's wrong? You look like your struggling with something."

Taking a deep breath he said "I was, I have...extremely strong animal instincts. Just then they were telling me to...umm do inappropriate things to you." He muttered.

Her amber colored eyes blinked in surprise. "Your instincts were telling you to mate with me?"

"Mate with you, mark you as mine, all that jazz." He said with a confirming nod.

The changelings' lower jaw nearly fell off when he heard what she said next.

"Well, why didn't you?" She asked.

"But-I-you-you...Just suddenly doing it with you out of nowhere would be wrong!" He finally managed to say.

Ashara shook her head in amusement "Garfield, as a force-user you can't suppress your instincts, you need to trust in them and in the force in order to survive. Facts can be proven untrue, people can betray you, your emotions can lie to you and cloud your mind, but your instincts? They will never steer you wrong trust them. Also..." She said before leaning forward and whispering into his pointed ear "I can guarantee you that all the girls besides Little Astraal, would be more than happy to help you with your little..._mating problem. All you'd have to do is ask." _She said her voice becoming husky at the end while cupping his rear.

"Woah!" he said before holding Ashara at arm's length and saying "Ashara, umm...thanks for the offer, but I'm not ready for anything...physical yet and I'm the type of guy who believes he should wine and dine a girl, get to know her well before anything like that happens."

Her amber eyes crinkled in amusement as she smiled at him and said "Where have you been all my life? You're an amazing man Garfield Logan, you know that? To be able to resist a Zeltron's pheromones' and then not only control your own lust, but turn down a willing Togruta on the basis that she deserves better than casual sex?"

"I'm not that great, and you do deserve better than casual sex." He added with a bit of force.

"Oh but you are, and you don't even realize how great you are, that's the most ludicrous bit! She said her laugh becoming hollow before killing off.

She then became serious as she told him "But don't worry, I promise you'll realize how great you are soon enough. I promise you that and then, the whole galaxy will know just how great a man you are." She said cryptically.

"Huh what are you-"Garfield was cut off by Ashara placing her lips firmly but chastely on his. When she pulled away she said "Shh, don't worry about it for now, ok?"

He nodded and she separated herself from him heading towards his door turning back only briefly to say "And Garfield, I'm more than willing to be patient and wait for you to be ready for intimacy...some of the others however may just decide to take matters into their own hands if you wait too long." She warned.

With that last word of warning she was gone.

_'Dude, what have I gotten myself into?'_ the changeling thought as he replayed what Ashara said over and over again in his mind _'All you'd have to do is ask...soon the whole Galaxy will know how great a man you are.'_

* * *

Ashara's words were still ringing in his head as he and his Master stood in front of Jaxson Nixton's humble looking shop, a modest sized two story building not too far from Dix's Bar. Garfield knocked on the door and hearing a muffled "It's open, come in!" He held the door open for his master before stepping inside himself.

The place was covered in wood, not that he could see much of it as the floor and countertops were littered with various parts, wiring, and pieces of colorful crystal. Careful not to step on anything Gar made his way into the shop and called "Jax is everything ok?"

"Yeah kid everything's fine, I'm just looking for something important is all...now where the Krif did I put it?" Jax muttered to himself from behind the counter.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Fay asked.

"A holocron Master Baaks left me, he told me some cryptic Jedi nonsense saying that 'I'd know who the right person to give it to was.' Or something like that." The Mandalorian said.

"Just how long ago did Master Baaks give you this Holocron?" Master Fay asked while looking under some scattered receipts.

"Around twenty years ago when I completed my Sabercraft training underneath him." Jax said distractedly.

Fay looked surprised _'For Master Baaks to leave a Holocron with this man...why is it that I feel that the Force continually works to aid us personally?' _

"Hey Jax, is this Holocron thing square, about the size of a Rubik's Cube, and bluish in color?" the chronomatically challenged teen asked.

"I don't know what the Krif a Rubik's Cube is, but you mean its palm size, yeah that sounds about right. Why, you find it?" he asked.

In response, the boy pointed just to the left of the Mandalorians head, he turned slightly and there sat the holocron he'd kept ahold of for so long.

"If it was a Rancor it'd have eaten me." He muttered as he palmed the device and walked around the counter heading towards the back of the shop.

"C'mon!" he called "Those lightsabers aren't gonna build themselves!"

"Well before we do that..." Fay said lifting up her arms and causing all the various bits and baubles to fly back to their proper place on shelves and in drawers.

"Thanks now get back here and let's get started!" Jax said sounding eager.

He had both Garfield and Titania go through various tests to determine what type of blade they would require. He had them hold different types of materials from exotic woods, to rare metals, even plants, and animal hides teeth and horns; asking them what feeling each one gave them in the force. Then he did the same for various crystals.

When all was said and done Garfield ended up picking Beskar iron, sarlacc skin, Rancor hide, Vexnu teeth, and eight purple crystals ranging everywhere from Ilum to even further reaches of space.

Fay however chose a white petaled lotus looking plant with a bark-like stem, a small vial full of an odd chemical, and two yellow crystals.

"Ok now what? Gar asked excitedly.

"Now, you both come back in about a week and pick up your sabers. But for now, why don't you take that holo, a couple of my older pieces, the training droid I have around here for blast deflection practice, and get to training on how to actually handle a lightsaber?" Jax said distractedly, waving his free had towards a satchel full of said items while his mind already at work on how all these parts were supposed to fit together.

"But-"The changelings' protest was cut off by his master putting her hand on his shoulder and steering him out of the shop.

"Come along Garfield, this is the perfect chance for me to teach you the beginnings' of Shii-Cho, the most basic of lightsaber forms. We have a lot of catching up to do, and now that you have a practice saber, I intend to make full use of the time we have available to teach you all I can."

_'Besides, you haven't been spending a whole lot of time with me lately.'_ She thought happy that she had a good excuse to take up copious amounts of her padawans time.

"Yeah, let's get this party started!" Garfield cheered leading the way back to Satine's Estate.

* * *

_'Ok, so this is slightly harder than I thought.'_ Garfield thought stubbornly as he was shot once again by the floating droid as he was completely cut off from his extrasensory perception.

It was the third day of Shii-Cho training and he had done well so far, mastering the basic forms rather easily as once again thanks to his less than normal upbringing, he had experience with fencing thanks to Mento.

'I guess all those hours of getting my ass handed to me with a fencing foil will come in handy now.' He thought somewhat bitterly as he remembered when Mento 'taught' him how to fence which mainly consisted of him poking him with a metal stick and telling him what he did wrong.

However when it came to blast deflection he'd hit a wall. No matter what he did, he couldn't block a single shot. Then out of nowhere Ashara's voice filled his head repeating what she had said a few days ago:

_'As a force-user you can't suppress your instincts, you need to trust in them and in the force in order to survive. Facts can be proven untrue, people can betray you, your emotions can lie to you and cloud your mind, but your instincts? They will never steer you wrong trust them.'_

"Ok, we'll try it your way Ashara." Gar muttered to himself before he allowed his instincts and the force to take control. At first nothing happened then he felt a slight tingle behind his eyes, and suddenly he could see everything around him! But it was different everything was either black or a slightly light bluish color he couldn't see any walls but it was obvious by the way people were walking that they were there.

Then he felt it, a tug a sense of imminent danger and without thinking he turned and raised his loaned lightsaber to block the shot from the hovering practice droid. Seeing its first shot deflected it shot again, this one aimed lower but that too was deflected. The droid must have been getting pissed off, because it kept shooting more and more frequently, forcing the changeling to block faster and faster.

He actually missed once and instead of the slight sting he should've felt, he was met with a burning pain.

_'Oh great, this thing is actually trying to kill me now.'_ He thought dryly as he kept deflecting shots.

Taking another shot, this time to the thigh, the changeling let out a mild growl of annoyance. _'Enough is enough.'_ He thought before he prepared himself for the next shot preparing to take out the rouge little machine.

When the next shot came Gar deflected it back into the droid itself destroying it in the process.

Taking off his helmet that was 'blinding' him he looked at the charred remains of the machine and said "Take that you crazy piece of junk."

Unbeknownst to the young padawan, his master had been silently watching. She had been prepared to tell him to take a break, when the machine defected and suddenly, he stepped his game up, he had just unknowingly mastering blast deflection in a matter of moments.

_'Just how far will you go Garfield, and how quickly, at what point will you become the master and I the student... Or, has it already started?'_ she mused to herself as she went to congratulate he charge.

* * *

**Chapter End**

**Chapter Length: 11,025 – Date completed: 12/8/13**

* * *

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the end of the second chapter of Edge of a Coin! I do hope you all enjoyed it and if you did, please review, it motivates me to keep writing! Till next time everyone, Bubbajack out! Peace!**


End file.
